Blog

Member Spotlight: Harris Rebar

By Samantha Sommerfield

With over 70 locations throughout North America, Harris Rebar is seen as a leader in fabricating, installing, and distributing concrete reinforcing steel products.

Tom Spatola, a manager at Harris Rebar in Kelowna, has been with the company for 18 years. In his time with the company, he has worked with the Delta, Stoney Creek, and Nanaimo branches, but for the past six years he has called Kelowna home.

What started Harris Rebar’s stay in the Okanagan Valley was the need for reinforcing steel on the William R. Bennett Bridge project. This major project, which started in 2006 and was completed in 2008, gave Kelowna’s original floating draw bridge a much needed upgrade and ultimately connected the communities of Kelowna and West Kelowna.

This was the first of many major projects Harris Rebar has contributed to for the community of Kelowna.

“Over the years, I would say we have completed close to 300 projects in the Kelowna market,” says Spatola. Since its introduction to the Kelowna area, not only has Harris Rebar contributed to major infrastructure projects, but the business has also become involved in the community. The branch is involved with the SICA Under 40 and Women in Construction groups, and it is also heavily involved with the Lake Country communities.

“We are actually located right on the border of Lake Country and Kelowna. So we have supplied material for the Lake Country’s flood bank and we also supply material for their water park,” says Spatola. “We got involved when customers
started calling us to help support the cause, and to supply time and material to the community projects, so we started providing reinforcing steel at a discount or at no cost. This has been going on since day one.”

Another one of the main community initiatives that stands out the most to Spatola is supporting future engineers by supplying material for educational purposes at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan (UBCO) campus.

“We have had engineering students ask us to provide materials for testing,” says Spatola. “An individual was working on bridge design testing and was looking for rebar material to be donated to support the endeavor, and we wanted to help out. It is on a small scale, as it’s not a lot of material, but we try to help out however we can.”

These community initiatives are above and beyond the day-to-day projects that comes with being a leader in their field. These extra steps taken by Harris Rebar to ensure they are not only contributing to, but also investing in the future of Kelowna is why Spatola is proud of his workplace.

“I believe it is important to be a part of a company that is involved because we live, work, and play in this community and it is important to give back to it,” says Spatola. “At the end of the day, you want to see your community thrive around you and it is nice to be a part of that in some small way.”

This article first appeared in the Fall 2016 issue of SICA's Construction Review Magazine. To read the entire magazine click here.

50th Parallel Estate Winery of Lake Country was named the Judge’s Choice best overall entry in the 10th Annual Thompson Okanagan Kootenay Commercial Building Awards Thursday, Sept. 20 at the Coast Capri Hotel.

SICA held our annual Chair Dinner and Award Night where we celebrate member anniversaries, board volunteers, Gold Seal recipients, and scholarship recipients. In addition, this year we had the honor of awarding both a Consultant Award and the Innovation Award.

On Wednesday, September 12, Emil Anderson Construction (EAC) was awarded the Southern Interior Construction Association’s 2018 Innovation Award for their work on the Vedder Bridge Project in Chilliwack, BC.

The new Pattullo Bridge Community Benefits Agreement patently illustrates what is unfair with our current government’s policy decision to mandate the nature and extent of procurement requirements in major public construction projects.

The Southern Interior Construction Association (SICA) joins the British Columbia Construction Association (BCCA) in expressing deep concern about the Community Benefits Agreement announced by B.C. Premier John Horgan July 16.

On June 21st, 2018 144 golfers converged on Sunset Ranch Golf Course for the annual SICA Golf Tournament. Despite lightening in the valley causing a brief course closure and pouring down rain in the afternoon the event was a huge success!

The beautiful Roche Lake Resort was again the site for our now 2nd annual Family Fishing Derby. This event, hosted through a joint partnership between the Southern Interior Construction Association and CapriCMW Insurance, is quickly becoming a must attend for all SICA members.

The CCA Person of the Year Award recognizes individuals who demonstrate the qualities of a leader and who apply the highest standards and principles of the construction industry and business community. To those who have had the opportunity of working alongside Terry Brown, he is the living embodiment of this description.

2018 marked the 10th year of the Heavy Metal Rocks event in Kamloops. This project provides opportunities for Grade 11 and 12 students from the School District No. 73 to explore career opportunities in the heavy equipment operator field.

The Kelowna building community was proud to celebrate BC’s Construction & Skilled Trades Month with a breakfast held at Okanagan College on Thursday. In the newly built Trades Building contractors, apprentices, foundation program students and industry support organizations gathered to recognize the impact the construction industry has on the BC and specifically the Okanagan economy.

TKI recently completed construction on the flagship Mr. Lube store in Kelowna, where they went beyond your standard oil change facility and built a truly stunning building. Brandon had the opportunity to work with the Mr. Lube franchise owner to design a tower and architectural details that make the store more visually appealing than it would otherwise be.

Successful buildings have always been the result of collaboration between the client, designers, and contractors. A strong team, clear expectations, and concise information will typically result in a project which all involved parties will consider successful. Through recent decades the delivery of projects has changed with increased complexity, decreased timeframes, and changing delivery methods. Now more than ever it is critical that the collaboration between the team occurs to ensure the desired outcome.

On December 13, the federal government released legislation to simplify restrictions on income sprinkling, proposed to go into effect January 1, 2018. These revisions indicate they’ve listened to feedback during the consultation period, by providing more certainty to taxpayers through the introduction of “bright-line” tests to automatically exclude some family members, and allow income sprinkling for those members who make sufficient contributions to the business.

Adaptability, initiative, and customer service are the keys to longevity for a local commercial and residential excavation business in Kelowna. OK Excavating is celebrating 50 years of business in 2017 and, in those years, has undergone many evolutions.

A hazard such as a fire has protocols and procedures that are designed to mitigate risks – inspections, suppression systems, and risk management practices. Cyber protection of a business should also employ a rigorous process to develop both a risk prevention and incident response plan. Most cyber insurance applications serve as a catalyst in moving towards this process.

​The Builders Lien Act (the “Act”) requires strict compliance with the prescribed manner, form, and time limits set out in the Act. Failure to comply with any of these requirements will be fatal to the lien claim.

To stay on track, real estate and construction companies should develop a better understanding of where tax issues are likely to complicate or disrupt their business — and develop a plan to mitigate those risks well in advance.

One of the biggest investments employers can make is in their employees. And it makes sense to want productive, healthy, and engaged employees. Employees with poor health cannot exert the effort required to be highly productive, and you need engaged employees in order to create innovative solutions.

The Board of Directors and staff are thrilled to announce that Jason Henderson has accepted the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Southern Interior Construction Association (SICA) effective immediately.

The downtown Kelowna building topped a field of a record 36 , and was also named the Award of Excellence winner in the Community Institutional category. Kasian was the Architect/Designer and Bird Construction was the Developer/General Contractor.

The Supreme Court of Canada changed the legal landscape for contracts in the decision of Bhasin v. Hrynew, [2014] SCC 71. This decision created a new common law obligation of good faith that applies to all commercial contracts.

Regardless of the size of your business or the sector you operate in, the purpose movement is shaking up the rules of business and ringing in a new era where business is an active participant in making the world a better place.

Working with family is a talent all in its own. But when it comes down to it, keeping it professional and planning for the future is what counts—just ask any of the following long-term SICA member firms, who each celebrate multi-generations in business.

Today’s building projects are typically delivered on a compressed timeline and a limited budget. Architects, engineers, and construction companies have to use every tool available to provide themselves with the time and space to design and build high-quality buildings.

The students of School District No. 73 in Kamloops are part of the Heavy Metal Rocks Project. The program is offered by the school district to provide students with experience and training, exposing them to career options as heavy equipment operators within the construction industry.

With businesses adjusting to the era of the happy workplace, concepts such as social responsibility, company culture, and employee engagement are common buzz words used around the open-concept, flexible, shared workspace. They are used more so as companies shift their recruiting focus toward the millennials, the largest generation in the workforce today.

Resources

Membership Benefits

As a Member you are a part of a collective voice, the SICA voice. Together, our voice is changing the construction community and helping your business grow through advocacy, networking events, affinity programs, direct business leads and more. Our voices promotes fairness, transparency and open communication in the construction industry. Join SICA to grow your business today and be a voice for our industry tomorrow.